City officials will start talking to residents and stakeholders at two-day community workshops, which get underway Tuesday.
SAN ANTONIO — City leaders have been weighing in for several months on the plans, merits and ambitions of Project Marvel.
Starting next week, the public will get their chance too.
Tuesday will mark the kickoff to a series of community forums and workshops for residents and stakeholders to provide feedback, ask questions and get clarity on San Antonio’s dream of a downtown sports and entertainment district. The collective blueprint amounts to a price tag in the billions of dollars, would amount to a yearslong effort reshaping the heart of the city and is centered around the possibility of a new Spurs arena.
The initial phase of San Antonio’s community engagement plan will consist of two-day workshops in each City Council district, beginning with Districts 2, 4, 5 and 7. It begins with stakeholder discussions and focus groups centered around four key areas – housing, transportation and parking, business opportunities, and public and community spaces – before ending with evening open houses for the public.
The idea behind the community meetings, or “charrettes,” officials say, is to gather feedback for the still-gestating Project Marvel and its various elements, including the Spurs arena, an expanded Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and major Alamodome renovations. They’re being organized by Able City, a local civic engagement group.
“Phase 1 is really getting the feedback from the community so we can incorporate it on the front end for those projects, come back to the council with what we’re hearing and bring forth to council that set of guiding principles that will help us through the decision-making process,” Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said in a recent City Council briefing.
Day 1 of each charette will consist of focus groups from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and open community forums from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. On the second day, focus groups will run from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. while open houses run from noon to 7 p.m. Those wanting to participate in a focus group in their respective district’s charette can register ahead of time here.
Here’s when each community forum is scheduled for, and where they’ll be held. (Click here to find out what council district you live in.)
- District 1: July 8-9 at Oblate School of Theology (285 Oblate Drive)
- District 2: June 24-25 at Wheatley Heights Sports Complex (200 Noblewood Drive)
- District 3: June 30 to July 1 at Southside Lions Senior Center (3303 Pecan Valley Drive)
- District 4: June 24-25 at Palo Alto College, Ozuna Library (1400 W. Villaret Blvd.)
- District 5: June 24-25 at Progreso Hall (1313 Guadalupe St. #200)
- District 6: July 8-9 at Darner – Parks and Recreation Headquarters (5800 Historic Old Highway 90 West)
- District 7: June 24-25 at St. Paul Community Center (1201 Donaldson Ave.)
- District 8: July 8-9 at Phil Hardberger Urban Ecology Center (8400 NW Military Highway)
- District 9: July 8-9 at Walker Ranch Senior Center (835 W. Rhapsody Drive)
- District 10: June 30 to July 1 at Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center (5210 Thousand Oaks Drive)
What to know about Project Marvel
The district officially saw the light of day in November, when city leaders started talking publicly about their “gamechanger” of a development initiative for the first time.
Conversations surrounding a new NBA arena have been ongoing between the City of San Antonio, the Spurs and Bexar County since spring 2023. Planning has since come to incorporate funding options, plans to improve downtown and the future of the Spurs’ current home at the Frost Bank Center. The community engagement component was outlined in the memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the Spurs, county and city in April.
City officials hope to get started on the convention center expansion first, saying it’s a necessity to keep major events – and therefore big revenue – flowing to the downtown venue. A new NBA arena, meanwhile, is expected to cost anywhere from $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, and the potential funding sources vary from Bexar County venue tax to contributions from the Spurs themselves.
In the longer term, the city would also like to connect the existing John Wood Courthouse into a live entertainment venue and build a land bridge over Interstate 37 to reconnect downtown with the east side.
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg helped set the project into motion alongside City Manager Erik Walsh and his team. What remains to be seen now is how the project’s timeline might be impacted by the newly installed City Council led by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, who expressed concern on the campaign trail that there hasn’t been as much transparency about the project as there could be.